Sampling apparatus

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for removing samples of product flowing through a conduit. The apparatus has a rotatable and reciprocal sample tube disposed within the conduit with said tube being movable to various positions within the conduit.

United States Patent [72] inventor Robert W. Starks Merrillville. Ind.

[21] App]. No. 867,731 [22] Filed Oct. 20, 1969 I45] Patented July 27,1971 [73] Assignec Phillips Petroleum Company [54] SAMPLING APPARATUS 4Claims, 2 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S. Cl 73/422 R [51] lnt.Cl 4 G0ln 1/20 [50] Field of Search73/422;

[56] References Cited UNlTED ST ATES PATENTS 2,012,836 8/1935 Talbotetal 73/422 Welly ct al 73/422 Reinert 73/422 X Woodham et al. 73/422(TC) Gallup et al. 73/422 Brown 73/422 Shlwell 73/422 PrimaryExaminer-Louis R. Prince Assistant Examiner-Daniel M. YasichAn0rneyYoung and Quigg ABSTRACT: An apparatus for removing samples ofproduct flowing through a conduit. The apparatus has a rotatable andreciprocal sample tube disposed within the conduit with said tube beingmovable to various positions within the conduit.

SAMPLING APPARATUS This invention relates to a sampling device. Inanother aspect, this invention relates to an apparatus for continuouslyremoving a sample of product flowing through a product conduit.

In heretofore utilized sampling apparatus for removing a sample ofproduct flowing through a product conduit, the inlet end of the samplerwas disposed in the conduit at a fixed position. When the product to besampled comprised, for example, granular material having different sizedparticles or a mixture of granular materials with the components of themixture having sometimes different sizes and configurations, it wasoften impossible to recover a representative sample of that product. Theprincipal reason for this difficulty resulted from gradation of productflowing through the product conduit. During movement of the productthrough the conduit, the material having a higher density tends to flowalong the bottom of the conduit with lighter components moving throughthe upper portion of said conduit. Where the product material was of thesame composition, but having different size particles, the particleshaving a greater volume generally moved through the upper portion of theconduit with smaller particles occupying the lower portions of saidconduit. In order to alleviate these difficulties, these fixed sampletubes were generally located near the inlet of the product conduit inorder to obtain a representative sample prior to product gradation whileflowing through said conduit. This, however, was often impossible owingto the construction of the plant and the space needed for installing asampling station. The heretofore utilized sampling apparatus alsogenerally comprised complex shutoff gates, automatic valves and thelike. These devices often malfunctioned owing to the atmosphere in whichthey operated and often required a great deal of supervision andmaintenance.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a sampling devicefor removing product from various positions within a product streamflowing through a product conduit. Another object of this invention isto provide a sampling apparatus that is of simple construction and canbe manipulated to control the rate of product removal from the conduit.Yet another object of this invention is to provide a rugged and simplyconstructed and operated sampling device. Other aspects, objects, andadvantages of the present invention will become apparent from a study ofthe disclosure, the appended claims, and the drawing.

The drawings show the apparatus of this invention and the productconduit. In the drawing, FIG. l is a diagrammatic frontal view of theapparatus of this invention installed on a product conduit and FIG. 2 isa diagrammatic frontal view of a portion of another embodiment of thesampling apparatus with the sample tube at a different position.

Referring to FIG. 1, a product conduit 2 extends, for example, from apellet mixing machine to a bulk storage tank (not shown). The conduit 2has a port 1 formed through a wall of the conduit 2 on the lower surfaceof the conduit 2. The port 4i is positioned on the lower surface of theconduit 2 in order that a sample tube 6, disposed therein,, can be movedrelative to the conduit 2 to position an inlet end 6 of the tube 6adjacent the lower portion of conduit 2 and provide for movement ofproduct through the sample tube. The port also opens into the conduit 2at an angle toward the opposed direction of product movement throughsaid conduit 2. The sample tube 6 is elongated and has an inlet end 8within the product conduit 2, a body lltl extending through the port 4and an outlet end portion 11 spaced from the conduit 2. The inlet end 8of the sample tube 6 is open on an angle relative to a perpendicularplane through the longitudinal axis of the tube 6. A sample tube 6 isrotatable about its longitudinal axis and movable along the longitudinalaxis of the tube 6 for placement of the inlet end 8 of the sample tube 6at desired positions relative to the pathway of the product flowingthrough the conduit 2 and removing a portion of the product therefrom.lacking means 12, such as a rubber gasket, is slidably mounted on thebody 10 of the sample tube 6 and fixedly attached to the conduit in theport 6 to prevent the flow of product through the port between thesample tube 6 and the conduit and permit the rotational and longitudinalmovement of the sample tube 6. The sample tube 6 is preferably disposedin the product conduit 2 at an angle relative to the conduit 2 in adirection opposed to the direction of product flow through said conduit2. The plane of the opening of the inlet end 8 of the sample tube 6 ispreferably constructed so that the plane of said opening is rotatable toa position substantially perpendicular to the direction of said productflow. By so constructing the inlet end 8 of the sample tube 6 anddisposing the tube 6 within the conduit 2 at an angle as describedabove, the sample tube can be rotated to control the rate of productfeed into the sample tube 6 ad the product feed will not be required tomove along a angled pathway to be removed from the conduit 2. By sodecreasing the angle at which the product moves when traveling from theconduit 2 through the sample tube 6 the amount of abrasion on theproduct particle is reduced. Where the product particles comprisematerial that is readily broken and abraded and where the product ismoving at relatively high velocities, recovery along pathways thatrequire the material to move through angles of less than 90 isparticularly important when it is desired to obtain a representativesample.

The sample tube 6 is also slidably mounted relative to the packing means12 and the conduit in order that the inlet end 8 of said tube 6 ismovable between a first position at which said inlet end 8 is positionedwithin the conduit 2 at a higher elevation than the longitudinal axisand a second position at which the inlet end 8 is positionedsubstantially tangent to a lower wall M of the conduit 2. By soconstructing the apparatus, the inlet end 8 of the sample tube 6 can bemoved relative to the flowing product to obtain product samples across avertical cross section of the product and thereby obtain arepresentative composite sample. This feature is particularly importantwhere the product tends to gradate during movement through the conduit2.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the sample tube 6 wherein said tube 6comprises composite telescoping first and second tube members 16,16 withsample sealing means 20 therebetween. In this embodiment the inlet end 8of the sample tube can be contracted and extended relative to theiongitudinal axis of the conduit 2 without moving other portions 18, 22,30 of the apparatus.

An elongated receiver 22, shown in FIG. 1, has a chamber 24 with aninlet end portion 26 and an outlet end portion 28 with a holding rib 29formed on the outer periphery of said second end portion 26.

A conduit means such as, for example, a union 3%) and associated pipingor a swivel is connected on one end of the outlet end portion ll of thesample tube 6 and at the other end to the inlet end portion 26 of thereceiver 22. A valve 32 is installed on the conduit means. lBy soconstructing the receiver and conveying means, a sample package can bedetachably maintained on the outlet end portion 26 of the receiver bythe holding rib, product discharging from the sample tube 6 is directedby the receiver 22 into the sample package while the conduit meansmaintains the receiver 22 in a vertical position for more uniformlyfilling the packages by gravity and decreasing the abrasion of theproduct.

In the operation of the apparatus of this invention, the opening of theinlet end 6 of the sample tube 6 is rotated manually, for example, toposition said opening at a desired angle relative to the direction ofproduct flow for controlling the rate of product sample removal. Valve32 is then opened and product flows through the apparatus at thepreselected rate and into a sample package positioned on the receiver22. When the flow of product from the conduit 2 is not longer desired,the opening of the inlet end 6 of the tube can be rotated toward thedirection of the product flow or the valve 32 can be closed. The inletend 8 of the sample tube 6 can be moved within the conduit to obtainproduct from various positions across the flow path.

Other modifications and alterations of this invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing discussion andaccompanying drawing, and it should be understood that this invention isnot to be unduly limited thereto.

What I claim is:

1. An apparatus for removing a sample of product flowing through asubstantially horizontal product conduit having a longitudinal axis, alower portion, and a sampling port formed through the lower portion ofthe conduit, comprising:

an elongated sample tube having an inlet end within the product conduit,a body extending through the port, and an outlet end spaced from theconduit, said inlet end being open on an angle relative to aperpendicular plane through a longitudinal axis of the tube and saidsample tube being rotatable about its longitudinal axis and movablerelative to the conduit for positioning the inlet end at variouspositions relative to the longitudinal axis of the conduit in thepathway of product flowing through the conduit for removing productsample from said various positions within the conduit;

means for preventing the flow of product through the port between thesample tube and the conduit and permitting rotational and longitudinalmovement of said sample tube; and

means for directing product into and maintaining a sampling package.

2. An apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, wherein the sample tube isdisposed in the product conduit at an angle relative to the conduit in adirection opposed to the direction of product flow through said conduitand a plane of the opening of the inlet end is rotatable to a positionsubstantially perpendicular to the direction of said product flow.

3. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1, including an elongated receiverhaving a chamber with an inlet end portion and an outlet end portionwith a holding rib formed on the outer periphery of the outlet endportion for maintaining a sample package and directing product into thepackage; and

means connected to the second end of the sample tube and the first endof the receiver for passing product from the sample tube into thechamber of the receiver and maintaining the receiver in a verticalposition.

4. An apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, wherein the inlet end of thesample tube is slidably movable relative to the conduit between a firstposition at which the inlet end is positioned at a higher elevation thanthe longitudinal axis of the conduit and a second position at which theinlet end is p ositioned substantially tangent to a lower wall of theconduit,

1. An apparatus for removing a sample of product flowing through asubstantially horizontal product conduit having a longitudinal axis, alower portion, and a sampling port formed through the lower portion ofthe conduit, comprising: an elongated sample tube having an inlet endwithin the product conduit, a body extending through the port, and anoutlet end spaced from the conduit, said inlet end being open on anangle relative to a perpendicular plane through a longitudinal axis ofthe tube and said sample tube being rotatable about its longitudinalaxis and movable relative to the conduit for positioning the inlet endat various positions relative to the longitudinal axis of the conduit inthe pathway of product flowing through the conduit for removing productsample from said various positions within the conduit; means forpreventing the flow of product through the port between the sample tubeand the conduit and permitting rotational and longitudinal movement ofsaid sample tube; and means for directing product into and maintaining asampling package.
 2. An apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, wherein thesample tube is disposed in the product conduit at an angle relative tothe conduit in a direction opposed to the direction of product flowthrough said conduit and a plane of the opening of the inlet end isrotatable to a position substantially perpendicular to the direction ofsaid product flow.
 3. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1, including anelongated receiver having a chamber with an inlet end portion and anoutlet end portion with a holding rib formed on the outer periphery ofthe outlet end portion for maintaining a sample package and directingproduct into the package; and means connected to the second end of thesample tube and the first end of the receiver for passing product fromthe sample tube into the chamber of the receiver and maintaining thereceiver in a vertical position.
 4. An apparatus, as set forth in claim1, wherein the inlet end of the sample tube is slidably movable relativeto the conduit between a first position at which the inlet end ispositioned at a higher elevation than the longitudinal axis of theconduit and a second position at which the inlet end is positionedsubstantially tangent to a lower wall of the conduit.